Premier League sides Arsenal and Spurs hold a substantial interest in Torino forward Andrea Belotti but the two London sides will have to wait until the end of the season before they can make a move.
Torino manager Ivan Juric has made it clear that the 27-year-old will not be allowed to leave during the middle of the season so any transfer will only happen next summer.
“He won’t leave in January, he’ll see himself here till the end of the season,” he said, via SempreInter.com.
“It’s useless to speculate, nothing will happen. I hope he will have a great season, then we will look each other in the eyes and he will choose his future. There will be no approaches, I hope he will have a good year and then we’ll see.”
Andrea Belotti moving to the Premier League as a free agent?
Arsenal will lose Lacazette next year while Spurs also have doubts over Harry Kane, so someone like Andrea Belotti will be the perfect replacement for either of them.
Belotti’s current deal expires in 2022 which is why the two EPL clubs were hoping to sign him on a bargain deal in January. But it looks like Torino are willing to take the risk of losing him as a free agent rather than putting their season in jeopardy.
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And since Andrea Belotti is valued at £31.5 million we don’t think Arsenal or Spurs will mind waiting six more months before making a formal move for him.
Should Arsenal and Spurs try and sign him in January?
While these clubs can certainly save some money by signing him as a free agent but the 27-year-old will demand a massive salary once he’s not tied to Torino.
Free agents with huge salaries have not worked well for many clubs in the recent past and the last thing either of the two English clubs will want is to drag a flop high-paid player for the next three or four years.
Both these sides are in a rebuilding phase so neither of them can afford another Mesut Ozil like situation.
This is why we believe Spurs and Arsenal are better off trying to convince Torino to sell Andrea Belotti in January so they can negotiate the salary with an iron fist.
Several big stars have failed to succeed in the Premier League and given that Belotti has scored only one goal in four matches this season, it will be a massive gamble to bring in on board as a free agent and then pay him sky-high wages.
